A food blog written by a professionally trained chef, husband and father to three boys and a girl. Posts include all original recipes from my catering, private dining and personal chef events, and meals that receive the highest praise from the toughest critics – my wife and kids.

Grilled Tilapia Tacos with Mango Jalapeno Salsa

People often ask what my specialty is or what I enjoy cooking most. And I truly have the hardest time answering that question, because I love to cook everything. I love reviewing the different techniques I learned way back in culinary school and finding new ways to apply them today. Though, if someone is really pressing me for an answer I usually end up saying tacos or pizza. Fancy, I know. A trained chef slinging pizza pies and tacos. But, it’s never been about fancy to me. It’s always been about taking really good ingredients and transforming, simple, fresh food into amazing, yet approachable cuisine. Comfort food with an upscale twist is what I like to call it, which is why I think tacos appeal to me so much.

The best tacos are often the simplest. Simple corn tortillas, perfectly seasoned meat and fresh vegetables, topped with a little bit of heat. That’s really all you need to make a great taco. You can make so many different types of tacos just by using those four ingredients, which is what I did with these fish tacos. I bought the freshest fish available, seasoned it well, added a heat element with fresh mango jalapeno salsa and cooled it off with slightly sweet and crunchy, fresh slaw. Notice a trend here? Fresh. It makes the best meals. Fresh. Simple. Straightforward. I can’t think of a better way to cook, no matter what I’m making.

Get the freshest fish available. You can really taste the difference.

Grilled Tilapia Tacos with Mango Jalapeno Salsa

Grilled Tilapia Tacos with Mango Jalapeno Salsa

Prep time:20 min

Cook time:20 min

Total time:40 min

Yield:4

Difficulty:medium

Recipe type:Appetizer, Entree

Ingredients:

**For the Salsa**

2 jalapenos

2 mangoes, diced

1/4 red onion, minced

Juice of one orange

1/4 tsp. kosher salt

1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

**For the Slaw**

1 cup mayonnaise

2 tbsp. white vinegar

1 tbsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

1/2 tsp. celery salt

1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1/2 head green cabbage, shredded

1 carrot, shredded

**For the Tacos**

2 tsp. ground cumin

2 tsp. paprika

1 tsp. kosher salt

1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

3 tbsp. vegetable oil

1 1/2 pounds tilapia fillets

16 corn tortillas

Directions:

Place jalapenos directly over a stove-top burner set to medium-high heat. Roast until evenly charred on all sides. Remove from heat, place into a small bowl and cover with plastic wrap.

When jalapenos are cool enough to handle, remove skins, discard seeds and stems and then dice.

Add jalapenos, mangoes, red onion, orange juice, salt and pepper to a small bowl. Toss well and refrigerate until ready to use.

Place mayonnaise, vinegar, sugar, salts and black pepper in large bowl. Whisk well to combine.

Add cabbage, carrots and toss well. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Pre-heat grill to medium high heat.

In a small bowl, mix together cumin, paprika, salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper.

Evenly drizzle the vegetable oil onto the tilapia and then with the spice mixture.

Grill for 2 – 3 minutes per side. Remove from heat and loosely cover with foil.

While the grill is still on, grill the tortillas for 30 – 60 seconds per side until hot.

Slice the tilapia into bite size pieces.

Assemble the tacos by adding tilapia, then coleslaw and then mango salsa onto the tortilla. Serve immediately.